New
Paintings
I decided to establish this file for my most recent paintings, including works in progress. Just completed is a painting I've been planning for more than a year, since Chicago's Orchestra Hall was remodeled. Part of the remodeling was to place four new rows of seats behind the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a so-called "Terrace" area. Rose and I have been subscribers to CSO concerts for several decades. On several occasions, I've had the opportunity to sit in the Terrace; interesting, because you get to see the conductor from the viewpoint of the players. The first time I sat there, I conceived the idea for a painting that would focus as much on the latticework of microphones hanging from the ceiling as on the conductor or audience. This past spring, I brought my sketchbook to several concerts and made some quick black and white sketches. Two of them are shown below. The next stage was to execute a small (16 by 20 inches) acrylic painting on canvas, which you also see below. This was a preliminary work that lead to the much larger (4 by 5 feet) work at the bottom.
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PRELIMINARY SKETCHES--CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: Sanford uniball medium pen on sketch paper. Approximately 9 by 12 inches. I did these sketches very rapidly both before and during the start of two separate concerts in the spring of 2000. I didn't want to be too obvious about the fact that I was drawing for fear it would distract other members of the audience sitting near me, so I sketched fast and quit early. Sometimes black & white drawings have a charm of their own, particularly the sketch on the right, even though the online reproduction doesn't do it justice. UNPRICED
LARRY'S VIEW: Preliminary. Acrylic on canvas. 16 by 20 inches. Framed. Often I will do not only preliminary sketches, but also a small color painting before beginning a larger work. Some I simply throw away or paint over, but this one is probably a keeper. I've already framed it. Who is the "Larry" referred to in the title, "Larry's View?" It's Larry Combs, principal clarinetist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and a good friend. Rose and I got to know Larry after profiling his wife, horn player Gail Williams, for an article in Runner's World several years ago. Gail has run the Chicago Marathon twice. I didn't sit in Larry's chair in the middle of the woodwinds section while doing this painting, but this comes pretty close to being "Larry's View" of the conductor. $300
THE CONDUCTOR: Acrylic on canvas. 4 by 5 feet. Unframed. Wraparound canvas with art continuing on the sides. Here's the final painting done in more of a classic Pop Art style with colors right out of the tube. I lowered the conductor so that we see only the top of his head and his waving hands. Thus, it appears he is conducting the microphones rather than the orchestra. This series of sketches and paintings resulted, I thought, in several interesting works of art. My wife Rose actually likes the smaller painting more than the bigger one. My webmaster and daughter-in-law Camille feels the opposite. How about you? (Note that at 4 by 5 feet, this painting is significantly larger in real life than the one above.) The Conductor recently was accepted for exhibit at the 22nd Elkhart Juried Regional 200 art show. Until November 26, you will be able to see this painting at the Midwest Museum of American Art in Elkhart, Indiana. $750